Adventures in Frugality and the Home Arts (?)

After the money-hemorrhaging late fall, I made a deal with myself when we got back from our trip to Arizona that I wasn't going to buy anything superfluous (i.e. other than groceries and medicine, basically) until after the New Year. It was sometimes a challenge, especially because Mal doesn't understand that kind of thing. But it was nice to reset and reflect on purchases I thought I wanted to make during that time.

For instance: I'd done a trial subscription to Grove, and like the products... but decided that now that I have the glass dispensers, I can buy the cleaning products at Target and save a bunch of packaging and the delivery as well as some money.

Another thing I really wanted was a very large suitcase for times when we fly and can check bags, or even when I'm traveling alone with Mal and it would be nice to have one big bag to maneuver instead of a couple of smaller ones. I had looked online, and am enamored with hard-sided luggage, and Away's specifically. There's also a luggage store at the outlet mall that is always having sales. But even for soft-sided suitcases, I wasn't seeing anything under $100, and mostly over $200, for the size I wanted.

I spoke with my parents about borrowing one of theirs, but our next trip is scheduled within a week of their travel, and I didn't want either one of us to have to make the return during that time either pre- or post-vacation.

I also looked at Goodwill, which seemed to have gotten an influx of off-brand, new soft-sided bags in three sizes (carry-on, regular, and large) just in time for Christmas. Even those were $50 for the biggest.

After perusing Craigslist for a bit, I found an ugly, brown, 30-inch American Tourister suitcase for $25. It sells for about $160 new, but I'm sure they don't sell it in that color anymore, because why would they?

I arranged to get it, then had the idea that we could personalize it a bit with a few patches. When I mentioned this to Mal at the craft store, he took charge and picked out enough patches that I almost could have bought a new bag at Goodwill, but at least this is a brand I know and trust, and it will be thoroughly ours.

We picked it up yesterday, and the cats were interested.

Looks like poop!

Too bad it doesn't smell like poop.

Mal got bored with the affixing process after deciding where everything would go. After ironing the whole lot, I realized that apparently the backing did not want to adhere to a synthetic fabric, so... I used super-glue.

Now our bag is ready for its inaugural outing as part of Team Dave's. Too bad it will have to wait a few months.

Mal picked out: A "Minecraft" heart (really it's just pixelated, but whatever), BB-8, and a slice of pizza for the front. The heart came with a "full battery" patch, too, which I think is a cool allusion to how you should feel recharged after a good vacation. I used it to cover the scuffed-up logo; we'll see if it sticks!

I am the one who picked the "seek adventure" patch. And we affixed the luggage tag we formerly had on Mal's now-too-tiny backpack to the handle of the new case.

Mal's second food pick, French fries, on the side mean we should be able to locate our otherwise boring brown suitcase from any angle.

Also, there was a slight tear in the back (disclosed in the sales post), so I taped it up inside and the outside, and added a little flair to that, too. Mal said, "Thank you for giving me a heart!"

As you can see: Cat hairs already.

I'm not remotely a crafty person, but this was fun, especially since Mal took ownership of the design and was super excited about getting it together.